A sex therapist in a bitter row with her aristocratic former landlords has been told she cannot repay a £60,000 debt to the family in monthly instalments ... of just five pounds.
Self-styled 'Lady Pea', Patricia Ramshaw, has been embroiled in an epic legal wrangle with the Cator family ever since she rented a Broads period property they own in Ranworth in November 2021.
Dubbed Britain's poshest tenancy dispute, the dispute appeared to reach its climax in June last year when the Cators won a battle to have her evicted from the property - along with a menagerie of animals she moved in with.
But the case was in court again this week as Sam Cator, her landlord, appealed against an order that had been made instructing Lady Pea to repay more than £60,000 in weekly instalments of £5.
Richard Granby, representing Mr Cator, pointed out during a hearing at Norfolk County Courts that it would take a period of roughly 1,000 years for the debt to be fully repaid.
He said: "Five pounds per month would not come close to covering the interest being made on the debt.
"In this case, it would never be made and would continue to grow."
The unusual order came after Lady Pea applied to the courts for an instalment notice, indicating she was only able to pay the Cators £5 per month towards debts amassed through time she was living in the property without paying rent.
Mr Granby added: "We are somewhat suspicious that Ms Ramshaw drives a luxury car."
Lady Pea, representing herself, refuted this, saying: "It is not a luxury car, it is a 13-year-old Range Rover and I am living in it."
Meanwhile, the Cators came within hours of having to pay their former tenant £80,000, following a claim she had made through the Civil National Business Centre.
On Friday, Mr Cator's lawyers were granted a stay of execution pending a bid to set aside a separate court order for Lady Pea to be paid the six-figure amount.
Had this delay not been granted, enforcement officers from the Sheriff's Office were due to move in on the family by 11.59pm on Saturday.
Lady Pea told the court if she was paid this £80,000, she would be able to repay the debt.
She said: "I do not understand why the family put me in a house that was not inhabitable.
"This order meant I had a chance of survival."
District judge Andrew Spencer said the order approving the £5 repayment plan was "defective" - overruling a previous judge's decision to allow it.
He said that these orders needed to strike a balance between protecting the interest of both parties involved.
He said: "In my view this balance is not struck in this case.
"The instalments mean this debt will never be repaid and the interest alone will exceed £5 a month.
"Five pounds a month does not come anywhere near striking a just balance between the parties."
Meanwhile, the judge criticised the Cators' legal team for tabling a bid for almost £7,000 in legal costs of bringing the case to court.
He said: "This was an incredibly simple, straightforward application and costs of close to £7,000 are absolutely disproportionate."
DJ Spencer dismissed Lady Pea's application for the instalment order and ordered her to pay £2,000 in legal costs to the Cators.
The hearing did not set a new instalment plan.
LADY PEA VS THE CATORS
The hearing was the latest in a long saga involving Lady Pea, who works as a sex therapist, and the Cators.
Details of the dispute first emerged during a bizarre tenancy tribunal over Lady Pea's stay at the Old House, overlooking Ranworth Broad.
The row centred on a claim that she only had permission to keep two dogs onsite, but breached this by moving in a third dog, as well as pigs, two horses, eight ducks and 20 sheep.
The animals allegedly went on to destroy the gardens of the £3,500-a-month property according to claims made by the Cators - a claim which Lady Pea strongly denied.
The hearing also featured claims that Sam Cator's mother, Jane - a deputy lieutenant of Norfolk -had spied on Lady Pea in the property from the nearby Ranworth church tower.
Mrs Cator said she had seen a pig from the watchpoint but denied that she was spying on her tenant.
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